Chikara Program expanded its services in 2015 by offering new skills training in the form of massage therapy, with support from a new partner – REJOB, a human resource firm facilitating employment of Health and Wellness professionals to various salons and spa in Japan.
This project trains children and youth from partner residential care facilities, house parents and staff, and other low income individuals coming from indigent communities in Olongapo-Zambales area. The same project is also being offered at ACTION’s CHikara studio in Quezon city prioritizing Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries. (Pantawid Pamilya is the flagship poverty alleviation program of the Philippine government)
Agency partners of this project include Olongapo City Social Welfare and Development (CSSWDO), Tayo ang Tinig at Gabay (TATAG), and Association for the Differently-Abled Persons, Inc. (ADAPSI) in Olongapo city, and Department of Social Welfare and Development-National Capital Region.
A professional masseur was hired by ACTION as part-time trainer for basic massage therapy course. Lessons were given twice a week for 3 months. A commencement exercise is held for the massage trainees after successfully completing a training program. The trainer, who has been with ACTION since the project started, was sent to Japan in May 2016 to observe and learn from Japanese massage therapy practices.
Some of the graduates of this project already reported earning money from doing home-based massage services. The project is currently serving its third batch of beneficiaries.
